Oedipina complex (Dunn, 1924)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Hemidactyliinae > Genus: Oedipina > Species: Oedipina complex

Oedipus complex Dunn, 1924, Occas. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 5: 94. Holotype: MCZ 9408, by original designation. Type locality: "Las Cascadas, near Gamboa, Canal Zone", Panama.

Oedipina complexTaylor, 1944, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 30: 226.

Oedopinola complexHilton, 1946, J. Entomol. Zool., Pomona, 38: 38.

Oedipina complexBrame and Wake, 1963, Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 69: 16.

Oedipina (Oedopinola) complexGarcía-París and Wake, 2000, Copeia, 2000: 60.

English Names

Gamboa Worm Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 32).

Distribution

Central Panama and western Colombia (including Isla Gorgona), including an isolated record in the Magdalena Valley (Otanche Municipality, Boyacá Department), similar populations to northwestern Ecuador. See comment regarding range and taxonomic uncertainty of this apparent complex of cryptic species. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Colombia, Ecuador, Panama

Comment

See account by Brame and Wake, 1963, Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 69: 10. Köhler, 2011, Amph. Cent. Am.: 82–90, compared this species with others from Central America and provided a map and photograph. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 374–375, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Acosta-Galvis, García-Cobos, Cárdenas-Arévalo, Corrales-Garcia, and Paternina-Hernández, 2020, Check List, 16: 521–526, provided a record from Otanche Municipality, Boyacá Department, Colombia. According to Reyes-Puig, Wake, Kotharambath, Streicher, Koch, Cisneros-Heredia, Yánez-Muñoz, and Ron, 2020, PeerJ, 8(e9934): 1–35, the nominal taxon is likely a complex of cryptic species, with the range in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, particularly unlikely to contain Oedipina complex sensu stricto. While these authors did not explicitly exclude Oedipina complex from occurring in northwestern Ecuador, it is clear from the totality of text that specimens from Ecuador, previously identified as Oedipina complex, either are referable to Oedipina villamizariorum or are unnamed. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 853–854, provided an account summarizing the chaotic systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). 

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